Mission

Brew & Forge amplifies the collective power of writers and other artists to alchemize dreaming and build capacity in movements for liberation, justice, and survival. Through our annual book fair, retreat, and other events, we strive to foster mutual flourishing between writers and activists, leveraging the creative imagination to help build sustainable movements.

VISION

We envision a world in which:

the imaginative capacity required for radical change is robust, supported, well-resourced, and amplified.
the revolutionary imaginations of artists and movement builders merge to expand the visions, strategies, and possibilities of their work.
rest is normalized, and movements are sustainable.

OPERATING PRINCIPLES

Our methods of operating and decision-making are guided by the following principles:

Creative, reciprocal coalition-building and mutual aid
Challenging capitalist modes of decision-making by prioritizing open dialogue, collaboration, and relational well-being
Centering the voices, needs, and expertise of those most directly affected by oppressive systems, especially BIPOC, queer/trans, working class, women, and disabled artists and organizers.
Honoring and celebrating the need for rest, retreat, and joy

Grace Lee Boggs wrote about the need for activist movements that “grow our souls” even as they fight for liberation.

We believe that this is where artists—especially writers and poets—come in. While organizers are working to bring a better world about, writers can help us see (and smell and feel and taste) that better world we are dreaming of. Writers can weave together complex narratives, envision new possibilities, spark questions, and gather communities in mourning or celebration. We believe that movement spaces can be joyful, nourishing, and self-sustaining, and that artists have a role in making it so.

Image description: a group of Black youth wearing lanyards pose, smiling with their fists raised. They hold up two signs with the logo for the Detroit chapter of BYP100.

WHO WE FUND

Organizations for our annual Book Fair are nominated and selected according to the following criteria:

JUSTICE FRAMEWORK

Is engaged in active campaigns for racial justice, climate justice, carceral abolition, LGBTQ+ liberation, worker power, and/or indigenous sovereignty, as well as—and especially—the intersections between these struggles.

IMPACT

Has a local focus and a relatively small operating budget (typically under $1M) and/or limited access to traditional funding sources. Organizations do not require 501(c)3 status to be funded.

COMMUNITY POWER

Builds power in oppressed communities, centering the leadership and/or autonomy of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant, and/or working class people.

STRATEGY

Leverages grassroots power and utilizes direct action as one of multiple tactics to challenge the root causes of oppression. We are particularly interested in organizations that use an intersectional lens to rebuild as well as to dismantle.

TRACK RECORD

Has built a strong reputation among local and national networks of movement workers. In order to avoid draining capacity from organizations by requiring applications, we rely on referrals, community connections, and our own research.

Brew & Forge is fiscally sponsored by the Peace Development Fund, a 501(c)3 public foundation. Our current programs are possible thanks to support from the Markham-Nathan Fund, the Poetry Foundation, Resist, the Ruth Arts Foundation for the Arts, and our generous donors.